January 31, 2026
Last day of January 2026. Sipping the coffee, and easing into the weekend. Here are some updates on the stuff I got going on:
Physical Body Stuff: Still doing a somewhat loosey-goosey form of 75 Hard. I’m no longer posting things like I was when I first did the program in 2024. In fact, just thinking about socials, I haven’t been posting much of anything at all. When you’re somewhat frozen in, it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot to report. Anyway, in January, I’ve lost 5 of the 6 pounds I’d slowly added on during the last quarter or 2025. The key to my own success is to record EVERYTHING. That means obsessive food tracking, weighing myself daily, a workout plan that has some kind of end goal, etc. When I can visualize my success, I find that it works! I’m feeling really good and can visualize a much more healthy body with a nice bit of muscle definition and a stronger overall physical being. We’ve come a long way since surgery and chemo!
Mental Health Stuff: And speaking of obsessive tracking, here, you can see the tracking of my progress (?) on a day-by-day basis. Am I obsessive? I don’t know. It’s interesting because at the end of the day, I try to add my “emotional” status. There are a lot of 😑s on my chart at the end of the day. My goal for next month is to have many, many more 😊s and even ❤️s. I would love to say that I’m meditating and working on my manifesting daily, but I’m struggling with that. Does anyone have a technique that they love? Why can’t I just dedicate part of my morning routine on meditation? I’m good with it for about a week or so, and then I tend to back off. I’m reading Mind Magic by Dr. James Doty, which is about the neuroscience of meditation, and I love that it’s scientifically-backed, but the way the book is laid out, he adds exercised into each chapter, and I get frustrated because I want to keep reading, not stop to meditate and then write things out. I’d rather do a guided meditation. So I think what I’ll do is finsh just reading the whole book outright and then practice his techniques after I read the whole damn thing. It’s too much stop-and-start for me. Working on it! LMK if you have a practice that feels easy. I’d love to hear! I know that visualization works for me (see above bullet point) - I just need to incorporate it into the rest of my life (especially the JOB part).
Medical/Insurance Stuff: Hoo boy. Still not teased out YET. If you read my last entry, you know my struggles. Without rehashing the whole thing, I spent the whole week going back and forth from UHC insurance to doctor’s office to case manager to doctor’s office to case manager and back. Many, many, MANY hours later, it’s still not figured out and I still don’t have a date for my absolutely necessary colonoscopy. I don’t want to unnecessarily raise my blood pressure, so I’m going to leave it at that for now. My goal for next week is to have it all figured out and my colonoscopy schedule for sometime in February or very early March.
Work Contract Stuff: Again back and forth and back and forth on this situation, too. The good news is that I was paid for January. The bad news is that I still don’t have a signed contract. It’s all based on a handshake right now. How is this possible? I am planning to go back to [former city] next week for several things: (1) work with another contractor - a manufacturing company - that’s also working on this project, (2) see Mom and Dad while I’m there, (3) look at a couple of apartments/rental houses for my big move in early April. So…the contract work continues, even with a question mark in front of me. My goal for next week is to have an AGREEMENT on this fucking project.
Job Hunt Stuff: Ugh. Such a slog. I heard back from the company that had me take the Excel test. Their response was that they will not be moving forward in the process with me. HAHAHAHA! I bet they could tell that being an Excel jockey was not really for me. Ya know? They told me that they don’t give further feedback, but my assumption is that I didn’t show ALL of my work on every tab. But honestly, who knows. I feel like the universe knew that this was not for me, even though I got a little excited about the company’s offices and imagined what my commute might look like after I got the job. Oh well. Moving on. I have submitted applications on a daily basis, and I only have one scheduled call next week so far. It’s with a recruiter who has a tendency to ghost, so I don’t have a ton of faith in the opportunity she has open. We’ll see. My goal for next week is to secure an actual interview with an actual prospective employer. This can be for a “real” job or another contract opportunity. I don’t care. I will score another opportunity!
Mom and Dad Stuff: The update is that I think we have had some success in the home health care situation. The problem was that the person coming in wasn’t keeping things clean and sanitary, and that can be a problem with the elderly when they can’t move like they used to to keep things clean and orderly. And don’t forget, my dad is still working with a broken arm (though the orthopedic surgeon told him that it’s healing nicely and that his break was not nearly as devastating as it could have been, thank goodness!). So. A few messages back and forth between my SIL and me, and a few messages back and forth between my dad and me, and a few messages back and forth with the home health office and me, and we have a clean and sparkly house! The report is that things are much, much better. So that’s good news. There’s supposed to be a quality control inspection on Tuesday, and I’ve decided to go and visit Tuesday morning on my way up to [former city]. It’s not totally on the way, but I can stop in and have lunch with Mom and Dad and then head up the rest of the way. It will be good to see everything in person. Also, there was a point there when my SIL was just complaining to me, and I finally got stern with her and told her that she can’t just use me as the punching bag of her complaints. She has responsibility here - she’s LIVING in that home. I made my message clear. She’s working much better with me now and knows not to just complain to me. She has to help me if she wants my help (like, giving me specifics and how the issue can be resolved rather than just bitching to me). I feel a little bit like her fucking manager, but I think I can use that to my advantage. She has trouble expressing herself because English is not her first language, and I have a lot of experience with helping with the translation process, so we are working better together now.
Move/Living Situation Stuff: This is starting to get real. I have to give a 60-day notice to my apartment. My lease is up on April 20th. So it’s time to start house-hunting! I sometimes love this process, and I sometimes hate it. The thought of moving gets overwhelming, but I am feeling ready. For a cool as this city is, it has a lot of flaws and I’ve never felt super sparkly about it. I want to feel sparkly. Remember when I moved to the Treehouse? I loooovvvedd that place and felt sparkly DESPITE being smack in the middle of active cancer treatment! It did wonders for my soul. So much natural sunlight, so much vibrancy right outside my place, and a beautiful park as soon as I walked out my door. I am looking for that again. I’m sure I’ll have much more to report as I start my in-person search next week. I’d like to dedicate all of Thursday looking at places. The problem is, not having a JOB right now. Because [former city] is a HUGE, sprawling city and I don’t know where I’ll be working! I want a place that’s kind of centrally located so I won’t have a crazy commute. But the most important thing will be finding a place where I can feel fresh, sparkly and healthy!
Dog Stuff: Oh Martini. My sweet baby is just getting older. Slowing down, achy joints, getting what I think are allergies, and now a mole on her underarm is bothering her so much that she’s been licking the fur off. I took her to the vet to have her checked thoroughly. $500 for the vet to tell me that she’s fine, but that we should have the mole removed when we do her dentals. Problem is, I can’t afford it right now. There is an organization that will do her dentals and the mole removal for an affordable price based on income (which, mine is super low right now even with the contract), but I still need to do the research on that. One more thing to add to the list, but for now, she’s wearing a sweater and seems not bothered at all by the mole when she has the sweater on, her allergies are at bay, and I’m protecting her joints with some medication and joint supplements that seem to do the trick. She’s just going through the aging process, and it hurts my heart to see her uncomfortable. Vet is like, she’s fiiiiine!! And I know she is, but she’s my baby and I can’t help being overprotective. She’s going to be okay.
Friend/Relationship Stuff: Ugh, I misssss my friends. And yes, I’ve said it before, I’ve made a couple of friends here, but it just feels so sporadic and I have always felt like my time here is somewhat temporary. I never settled in here, and now I’m kinda like, well, why work super hard on friendships here? Probably not the right mindset, but writing about moving does seem to lean towards my time here being finite now. Same goes for the relationship stuff. Should I even bother to try to date here if I’m leaving in less than 90 days? And what will happen with my volunteer time? Is it time to start searching for an organization to work with in the future?
So these are my points to ponder over the weekend as we finally climb out of this arctic blast. Better go now. I really need to get back to the grocery store as I’ve eaten almost all of the provisions I got last week. I did well, though! I kind of loved being in my own little world for the whole week, staying inside and staying warm.
Now, it’s time to get back out there!
xox,
GS
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